ABSTRACT
In the fifth century AD John Stobaeus compiled an anthology of excerpts fromGreek poetry and prose. He included extracts of authors from Homer onwards and the sayings of famous people such as Darius and Socrates. These are all gathered together under different headings; for instance, there are sections on virtue, justice, anger, cowardice, generals and monarchy. The collection was produced, we are told, for the education of his son, hence perhaps the emphasis on ethics. In the section entitled On Courage the reader can learn of the wise man’s ability to cope with torture, or the story of the Spartan mother who told her son to return from battle with his shield or on it, or the remark of Socrates that strength is movement of the soul along with the body.
